Sophomore Year:  The Sky's The Limit
by TheStarsInHerEyes
Summary: Year Two, Sequel to Sky High.  They managed to save their school last year, but now, it seems that their whole town may be in danger.  Includes Will/Layla, Warren/Freeze Girl, and Zach/Magenta.
1. Chapter 1

"The Stronghold Three. The greatest family of super heroes to ever live. Of course, I might be a bit biased. Because I'm Will Stronghold. Yeah, my parents are the Commander and Jetstream. I've got my dad's super strength, and my mom's super flight. So now I get to join my parents in, as they would say, kicking butt and taking names. In fact, that's what we did last year at homecoming. Turns out, my dad hadn't really killed Royal Pain, she had just been turned into a baby. So, she went to Sky High undercover, stole the Pacifier, and tried to turn the whole school into babies and start a school for supervillians to get her revenge. It's a good thing we were there to stop her. Well, actually, I was the only one who stopped her, as my mom and dad were turned into babies. But I did have some help, from my friends. Half of them were sidekicks too. Which just goes to show, it doesn't matter what your power is, anyone can save the world. So, who knows what's going to happen this year? Not me, that's for sure."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own no part of Sky High . . . duh. **

Will Stronghold's alarm clock was beeping. But Will wasn't paying any attention to it. He had been up for an hour already. At the moment, he was lifting up his bed with one hand so that he could look underneath it for his backpack, which he knew had been on his chair last night . . . or at least sometime last week.

"Where is it?" He muttered to himself, setting his bed back down to hit the off button on his alarm clock. A little too hard though: he smashed it. Like he had two others already. Will groaned, closing his eyes. His first day was not off to a good start.

"Hey kiddo." His dad said, sticking his head into the room.

"Hey dad." Will answered, briefly looking up. "Hey, have you seen my backpack anywhere?"

"Hmm." He said. "Did you check under your bed? You know that's where it was last time." He said, lifting up the end and glancing underneath it.

"I already looked there." Will answered, digging through his closet.

"Will!" His mom hissed from the doorway. "What are you doing? Layla's been waiting downstairs! That's not very good manners, especially on the first day of school!"

"Layla! Oh man, I'm coming! Just a sec!" Will answered.

"He's looking for his bag honey, have you seen it?" His dad said.

"You mean this bag in the hallway here?" His mom asked, holding up his backpack.

"Yes!" Will called out, grabbing it, and kissed his mom on the cheek. "Thanks mom, you're the best!" He dashed down the stairs.

Layla was standing on the front walk, perking up the rose bush next to the doorway.

"Hey Will!" She said smiling widely.

"Layla!" Will said, grabbing her hand and kissing her on the cheek. "Bye mom, bye dad!" He called out over his shoulder as he and Layla began to walk down the street.

"Oh, you're leaving already? But –"

"Now Josie, he's going to be a sophomore. I think he can handle himself."

"Well, I know dear, but still,"

"Stop worrying."

"Oh, alright. Bye honey! Have a good day!"

"Bye Will!"

"So," Layla said "How was Jamaica?"

"Awesome." Will replied. "But I missed you." Layla smiled. "Hey, you want me to fly you to school today?" Will asked eagerly.

"Will, last time you tried to fly to school you got totally lost, remember?" Layla said, smiling at the memory. Will's face fell, as he also remembered that day.

"Oh yeah." He said.

"Besides," Layla continued "We wouldn't want to disappoint Ron. He's still driving the bus you know, as a part time job."

"Oh yeah." Will said, his face brightening as they arrived at the bus stop. The bus pulled up, and both Will and Layla got on.

"Hi Ron." Will said.

"Heya Will. How's it going?"

"Great. How's the mayor?"

"Just fine, just fine." Ron said, chuckling, pleased. "Haven't been too many giant robots lately. Guess I must be scaring them all off." Will smiled and nodded, then headed over to the seat in front of Zach. Layla sat down next to him.

"Hey man." Zach said, bumping fists with him. "So, what do you thinks going to happen this year?"

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

"Well, dude, I mean, last year our school was nearly destroyed by Royal Pain. So, I mean, what's next? How do we top that? People are going to start expecting things from us, you know? We have to keep them on their toes."

"I dunno, I was kind of hoping a villain wouldn't attack this year." Will said.

"I have to agree with Will." Ethan said leaning over across the aisle. "Statistics show that it would be highly unlikely for the same school to be attacked two years in a row." Zach looked a bit crestfallen.

"But dude, it would be, like, so cool if,"

"But Zach, you don't need to worry about proving yourself anymore." Layla put in. "You know that this is the year they put an end to 'heroes' and 'sidekicks.' Now, we're all just students. Supers." Layla smiled, very content with the change, that she had had a large part in bringing about.

"That's actually pretty awesome." Magenta said.

"I, for one, am very excited to be able to access a new set of classes and experiences." Ethan said.

"Yeah, it's going to be pretty cool." Will said, high-fiving Zach.

"We'll have classes together now." Layla said, "All of us."

"Yeah man!" Zach said. "This year is going to be awesome!"

**Thank you for reading! Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated! **


	3. Chapter 3

Ron's landings had improved slightly over the last year, there were only minor bumps as they came to a stop. They all filed out of the bus, spilling out onto the grounds of Sky High. It looked the same as ever. You couldn't even tell where the damage done at last year's Homecoming was.

"Hey guys." Warren said, suddenly appearing next to them.

"Hey man!" Greeted Will, clasping him on the shoulder, along with a chorus of exclamations from the rest of the group. Warren even smiled slightly.

"You guys seen Princess around?" Warren asked, looking at their group. They all shook their heads, and Warren shrugged.

"Did you hang out with her a lot over the summer?" Layla asked, feigning casualness.

"No." Warren answered bluntly. Layla's face fell.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because." Warren said, a bit more gently seeing her face. He would never admit it, but he had a soft spot for the hippie. "We are not going out, and we never have gone out."

"You can still hang out with your friends." Layla persisted. Warren rolled his eyes.

"Well, she barely qualifies as my friend anyway."

"Warren!" Layla said. Magenta chuckled.

"It's alright Warren, she does the same thing to me and Zach. She just doesn't get that one dance does not mean you're a couple."

"Oh, yeah, I mean, totally." Zach said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"It's alright Layla, Warren's not my friend either." Abby said, appearing next to them. "Hey guys. How was your summer?"

"Hey. Where you been?" Warren asked.

"Hey guys, look." Magenta interrupted. "There's the freshmen." Sure enough, there they were, huddled in a group, gaping at the school around them.

"Man, that year has it easy." Will said. "No power placement." Some of them had turned to look at them, pointing and whispering 'Will Stronghold!'. Will quickly turned away.

"We weren't so titchy when we were freshmen, were we?" He heard Zach ask.

"Titchier." Warren answered with a straight face, and Zach looked horrified.

"Well I'm just glad they finally got rid of that awful system." Layla said. "Come on guys. Let's go find out our classes." They all turned and walked up the steps to Sky High together.


	4. Chapter 4

They filed into the gymnasium, settling in their seats in the bleachers. Suddenly, a flash of light filled the air and a comet whizzed through the double doors, settling over the podium where it transformed into Principal Powers. That got even the freshmen to shut up.

"Hello and welcome back to Sky High." She said, smiling. "This year, there have been a few instrumental changes made in the structure of the Super world, following events that transpired at last year's Homecoming. In the past years, on the first day of school, students were determined to be either a hero or a sidekick based on their powers, and on the last day, a hero paired with a sidekick. This will no longer be so. Every one of you has the power to be a hero, no matter what your power. We are all supers. Therefore, classes will no longer be split up into 'hero' and 'sidekick'. While this is a big change, it is a necessary one, and one we are all very pleased with. And on that note, I hope that you all will have a super year here at Sky High. Comet, away!" And with that, Principal Powers once again whizzed out the doors.

With the principal gone, Coach Boomer took the floor. He had no need for a microphone. "Alright, ya pansies, listen up!" He barked. "Because there's no more power placement, there's new schedules for everyone. So, everyone line up to receive your classes. Understood?" There was some half-hearted mumbling as half of the body slowly started to stand up. Boomer stared at them critically. "I said, _understood?_" He yelled, proving once again why his name was Boomer.

"Yes sir!" Everyone shouted in unison, immediately lining up in front of the podium.

Will shuffled his way up the line until he finally reached Boomer. The Coach looked at him. "Will Stronghold." He remarked, looking through his pile and pulling out a piece of paper.

"Y-yes sir." Will stammered.

"Well Stronghold, you certainly must remember your first day here." Coach Boomer said.

"Yes sir." Will answered. It had been one of the worst days of his life.

"Maybe there is something to this whole new changed system after all." Coach Boomer mused. "I made you a sidekick, but now look! You've got two hero powers kid! Top of the class!" Boomer clapped Will on the back. "See you in save the citizen."

"You betcha." Will said, quickly moving out of the way as another student was herded up to Boomer.

* * *

The lunchroom was filled with students of all shapes, sizes, and powers, all buzzing around and jockeying for a table. Will and his friends didn't have any problem with this though. Nobody, not even the clueless freshmen were brave, or stupid, enough to sit at their table. They had saved the whole entire school. That was the tough guy table, the cool kid table.

"Man, this year is gonna be rough!" Zach said, sitting down and setting down his tray with much clatter.

"You think you have it bad." Warren grumbled, not even looking up "Guess what I've got? Public Image."

"Woah, that sucks man." Will said. "Wait, what is Public Image?"

"It's a class where the enrolled students learn to deal with how to be a hero in the modern world, color coordination, working with the government, making speeches, public appearances, and the like." Ethan explained.

"You hear that?" Warren said. "A class on color coordination."

"It's really not that bad." Abby said. "I mean, at least it'll be an easy A."

"It's the stupidest class they could have possibly come up with." Warren persisted. "And I'm stuck in it."

"Hey, yeah, speaking of classes man," Zach put in, shuffling his tray and looking all over at once, "History of Supers sounds like it's going to be hard this year. You wouldn't happen to have any old papers you'd like to pass down, would you?" He asked hopefully. Before Warren could answer, Magenta laughed.

"Like Warren ever did any work." Warren glared at her.

"Oh yeah." Zach said, looking defeated. Warren glared at him too. "Abby?" Zach asked, smiling.

"Nope, sorry." She answered, quickly glancing up at him. "My essays are too good to be copied." Zach looked crestfallen.

"Zach, I hope you wouldn't really copy." Layla said, looking at him reproachfully. "Especially since the class hasn't even started yet."

"Oh, I mean, no way, I mean, like," Zach quickly stuttered.

"I mean, I'm sure Abby will still help you though, if you're having trouble. Won't you Abby?" She asked, turning towards her.

"Oh, sure." Abby said, flashing a smile at Zach.

"Phew." Zach said, sighing and closing his eyes.

"We can start up our study sessions again." Layla said, smiling, returning to her lunch.

"Those were particularly enjoyable." Ethan nodded, as the others murmured in agreement.

"It'll be easier now, since we'll all actually have pretty much the same homework." Will said. Last year, he and Layla had been supers, but the others hadn't. That had made doing homework together . . . uh . . . difficult.

"Warren and Abby, you guys should come to more of them this year too." Layla said. "Or, I mean, you could make one of you own, with just you two." She trailed off, as both Warren and Abby glared at her. She sighed, realizing she had been a little obvious. "Or not." She hastened. "I mean, that way Abby can help Zach at the same time. And Warren, now you and Abby can do the same homework, so it's not like you'll be by yourself."

"Doing homework with a bunch of sophomores and Abby. Sounds like fun." Warren muttered.

But, Abby said "We'll come." nodding. Warren stared at her.

"We will?" He asked.

"Well, I'm coming, and I know you will too. You went to even more of them last year than I did. Plus, that way you can copy my answers more than five minutes before class." Warren scowled, having been figured out.

"Well, you guys are gonna need all the help you can get anyway." Warren grumbled.

"Wha- what do you mean?" asked Will.

"Freshman year is a cake walk." Warren stated. "You have to actually do stuff sophomore year."

"Yeah, that was a bit of a problem for Warren." Abby said nonchalantly, but with a smile lurking on her face.

"Shut up Princess." Warren said.

"Will," Layla said, putting a hand on his arm. "You've got your power now. You've got_ two_ of them. You don't have to worry. You're going to do fine."

"Oh, yeah." Will said. "Thanks Layla."

* * *

Will walked down the hallway, Layla by his side, the others ambling along behind him. They were all involved in their own conversation, but Will was concentrating on finding his way to his next class. Suddenly, he looked up, and there was Mr. Boy. He looked the same as ever.

"Hey Mr. Boy!" Will said.

"Why hello Will. It's certainly nice to see you. Back for another year, eh?"

"Uh, yes sir, I guess I am."

"Well that's good, that's very good. I myself am back too for another year. You may have noticed that there is no longer a hero support track?"

"Uh, yes, I did notice that."

"Well, now I teach the introductory to your powers and beginners gadgets courses. Yep. You wouldn't happen to be taking any of those classes, now would you?"

"Uh," Will consulted his schedule. "No, sir I don't think I am."

"Ah well then. Well, but, if you ever find yourself in need of any advice, counseling, extra help, or just want to talk, well, you know where to find me. Feel free to stop by. I can always make time for Will Stronghold."

"Will do sir."

"Well, good, good. Tell your mother I said hello, now would you Will? Goodbye now. Layla. Ethan. Zach." Mr. Boy walked away, still nodding to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Will walked out of school with a spring in his step. This year was supposed to be harder, but compared to his first day last year, it had been a piece of cake. He breathed in the fresh air, he was free. He had survived his first day. His reverie was broken by a buzzing from his pocket. He fumbled out his phone and put it to his ear. "Hello?" He asked hesitantly.

"Oh hi Will, honey." His mother's voice answered in his ear.

"Mom?" He heard his dad grunt and call out his mom's name in the background. "What's going on?"

"Oh nothing sweetheart, it's just," There was a huge crash on the other end, loud enough to make Will wince. "You have to come down here right away, okay Will? We're down in the town square. I'll see you soon! Love you, bye!" his mother finished in a rush, and the line went dead. Will stared at the phone in his hand. The crashes, the urgency . . . his parents had to be in some kind of trouble. He had to get down there now. They needed his help. Will stood up straighter, then ran off the edge of the school. He soared up and sprang down to the town center.

Will skidded to the ground, stumbling a few steps, then started running. He didn't see anything, yet. He hoped his parents were still okay, that he wasn't too late. His footsteps thudded in his ears, sneakers pounding against the pavement. He screeched to a stop, looking around widely. There was . . . nothing. He looked around, again, thinking he had missed something. His mom had said town center, hadn't she?

"Oh sweetie, you made it!" His mother said, floating across the square too him.

"Mom!" Will called out, rushing over to her. "Are you and dad alright? What happened?"

"Oh, yes, we're fine sweetheart! Of course we are! Oh, I'm sorry, did we worry you?"

"Well, yeah, you said I had to come down here right now! I thought you guys were in trouble or something!"

His mom laughed. "Oh now, we can handle ourselves pretty well Will. We just wanted you to come meet the mayor!"

"Oh." Was all Will could say, as his mom lead him over to where his dad was standing, with the mayor.

"Oh, I almost forgot! How was your first day of school sweetie?"

"Um, it was fine mom." Will muttered. "Uh, hi dad. Hello, uh, Mr. Mayor, sir."

"Why hello! Mr. Will Stronghold, eh?" The man in the suit walked up and pumped Will's hand. "Wonderful to meet you! You look just like your old man!"

"Oh ho, you charmer you." Will's dad said, laughing and clapping Will on the shoulder. "Will, meet the mayor."

"Uh, hey," Will started to say, eyes flickering around nervously.

"Ah, the new addition to the Stronghold Three!" The mayor boomed. "I can see that Maxville won't have to worry with you around!"

Will's father laughed. "You've got that right, Bill."

"That's right. Maxville is in good shape with you around." A boy said, walking up to them. "Commander. Jetstream. Will Stronghold." He said, inclining his head. He looked a few years older than Will. His hair was a golden blond, matching the color of his crisp suit.

"Ah, this is my assistant, intern if you will, Samuel Beacon." The mayor said, smiling broadly. Although that could not be much of an indication of his opinion of Sam, as the mayor seemed to have no other expression.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Samuel." Will's mom said.

"Any friend of the mayor is a friend of ours." Will's dad echoed.

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine." Sam said, shaking their hands, with a smile that rivaled the mayor's.

Will realized that everyone was looking at him. "Oh, uh, it's nice to meet you, uh, Samuel." Will stuttered, quickly putting out his hand.

"Ah, Will Stronghold." Samuel said, shaking his hand and staring steadily at him. "I've heard about you."

"So, are you interested in going into the government Samuel?" Will's dad asked.

"Something like that, yes." Samuel said, with a small smile on his face.

"Good, good." The Commander continued. "Who knows? Someday you might be working with Will just the way we're working with Bill here, eh Bill?"

The mayor chuckled along "I wouldn't be surprised."

"You never can tell what can happen." The boy said.

"Yeah." Will said, laughing nervously and trying to edge away from the boy, Samuel. He wasn't sure why, just something about him creeped him out. Maybe it was the way he kept on staring. Yeah, that was definitely part of it.

"So, what'd ya say, Bill? Think we could get a tour of the Mayor's office for Will's first time here?" Will's dad asked, punching the Mayor on the shoulder.

"Sure! Of course!" The mayor exclaimed, his smile replaced by a wince for a second as he rubbed the spot on his shoulder. "Anything for the Strongholds!" Will followed his parents and the mayor into Town Hall. And maybe he was just imagining things, but felt like Samuel was glaring at him.

* * *

Will walked down the hallway, trailing after his parents, and nodding every now and then to whatever the mayor was saying. "So," Will said, turning to Samuel. But Sam just rolled his eyes and walked faster to catch up with the mayor. "Okay then." muttered Will. He had rushed out of school for this?

"And in here," the mayor, or Bill, as he kept on telling Will to call him, said, pulling out a set of keys.

"Oh no!" Samuel shouted, jumping in front of the door. Everyone stared at him.

"Samuel. What are you doing?" The mayor hissed through a smile of clenched teeth.

"You don't want to show them in there, do you?"

"Of course I do. No where's off limits to the Strongholds!" The mayor said, smiling widely at Will's parents. He pushed Samuel out of the way, and fiddled with his keys. Samuel glared at him, and as he did so, his eyes swiveled upwards and changed from blue to a dark gold. Will gasped and jerked away from him. The door clinked open and his parents and the mayor bustled into the room.

"Di – did your eyes just – just change . . . change color?" Will stammered.

Samuel jerked his head around and stared at Will. "No. Of course not." He answered quickly. "Why would they do something like that?" Then he followed everyone else into the room. Will shook his head. Maybe he had been imagining things. Then he followed them.

". . . so this is basically the control panel of the entire city. Lights, water, electricity, codes and keys to the other doors, you name it, it's all here." The mayor was saying, as Will's parents nodded along.

"What do you think Will?" His mom asked.

"Oh, oh, it's, um, very interesting. Very, very fascinating." Will said, nodding very quickly, hoping his mother would buy that he had been paying attention.

"Glad you find it so, Will." The mayor said. "In that case, I'm sure you'll find this next room very interesting. It has some fascinating portraits of past mayors," Will sighed, and followed them out the door. But this time, he kept his distance from Sam.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, Layla." Will said quietly.

"Yes Will?" Layla asked, scribbling something on her paper.

"I kind of wanted to talk to you about something." He continued, looking around. He didn't really want to tell the others yet, until he knew that they wouldn't laugh at him. They were having one of their study sessions. Ethan, Magenta, and Zach were crowded around the coffee table, working on another part of their homework, while Abby and Warren were across from them, doing some junior thing. He had Layla to himself. He turned sideways to face her on the couch.

"Alright, sure. What is it?" Layla asked, looking at him expectantly.

"Well," Will started, a little nervous. 'This is Layla!' he reminded himself. She won't think I'm weird. So he told her all about the mayor's office, and Samuel, the weird boy with the eyes that changed colors. Layla watched him steadily until he was done.

"Are you sure you didn't just imagine it?" She asked.

"Yes!" Will protested. "I'm sure. They definitely changed color big time."

"Alright." Layla said calmly. "What about your parents? Or the mayor? What did they say?"

"Uh . . ." Will thought back. "They didn't say anything. I don't think they noticed."

"Well, then maybe it wasn't that big of a deal." Layla rationalized. "I mean, nothing happened when they changed color. Maybe it was just the light or something."

"No." Will shook his head emphatically. "His eyes, like, rolled up into his head, and" he attempted to demonstrate with his own eyes.

"Okay, okay Will, I get the picture." Layla said, wincing and turning away from him.

"I dunno." Will said, stopping his performance. "He just really creeped me out."

"It was probably nothing. I mean, it's doubtful you'll ever really see him again. Yeah, it was weird, but it wasn't anything more than that. And I mean, Will, look at the school you go to, you're going to see some weird things."

"Yeah." Will said, laughing. "It was probably nothing. But, it was like he was glaring at me the whole time. Like Warren all over again." He shuddered.

"Speaking of Warren," Layla said, glancing over at him.

"Yeah?" Will asked.

"Does he ever talk about Abby to you?" Layla asked.

"No." Will answered. Layla's face fell as he said this. "Why?" Will asked hesitantly. "Was he supposed to?"

"Well, I mean, no, but, yeah, sort of." Layla said, staring over at Warren. "I mean, look at them Will!" Will obeyed, following Layla's gaze. Warren and Abby were sitting on the couch across from them, both peering over a textbook balanced between them. "He's got his arm around her." Layla whispered softly. Will noticed that he did. "They're so sweet . . ." Layla said, even quieter than before.

Will nodded, not too sure what she was getting at with this. "Do you want me to put my arm around you?" He asked. Layla's head snapped around.

"What? No, that's, well, I mean, if you want to, but that wasn't what I was talking about." She said, smiling and shaking her head.

"Oh. Okay." Will said, a bit relieved.

"I was talking about them." Layla said. "Look at them. They're perfect for each other."

Will glanced over at them too. He glanced back at Layla. He didn't really see much. But, they weren't fighting. They just looked pretty chill. "They are?" He asked.

"Yes." Layla said. "They balance each other out. Fire and Ice. They know it too, they just won't admit it. That's why they argue so much."

Will glance at Layla quizzically. Her eyes were starry, and it didn't look like her mind was completely here, down on earth. "Are you sure?" Will asked. He didn't want to contradict her, but he had always thought they argued because they didn't like each other. "Don't fire and ice, like, not mix?" He was a little worried about what would happen if Warren ever found out about this conversation.

"Trust me." Layla said. "They just need a little help getting started."

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

"We need to set them up. Warren helped me to be with you. Now I want to help him."


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey Abby, how's it going?" Layla asked, walking up to Abby outside of Sky High. She was fresh and ready, her ponytail bouncing.

"Oh, hey Layla." Abby answered, smiling. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing really. But, hey, I was just talking to Warren." Layla paused, staring at Abby.

"Oh." She said, nodding. There was a silence, until Abby realized that Layla expected her to comment on this. "That's nice."

"Yeah." Layla continued. "Warren's a nice guy." Abby kept on nodding. "What do you think of Warren?" Layla prodded.

"Um, he's nice." Abby said, looking all around. "He's a good guy, I guess." She shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head. "I don't know. Why?"

"Oh, no reason!" Layla said, laughing. "I don't know, I mean, I was just curious, I didn't really have a reason." Abby just stared at her. "Oh, that reminds me!" Layla barreled on "Do you want to meet me at the paper lantern for dinner, say, Friday night?"

"The paper lantern? Sure, that sounds good."

"Great." Layla walked away, smiling.

* * *

Will walked into the secret sanctum to find his parents tsking over a newspaper. "Well that's just a shame." He heard his dad say.

"What's up?" Will asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking over to them.

"Another pair of supers lost their town." His mom explained, still looking at the paper, shaking her head.

"What?" Will asked, craning his head to see it too.

"Yes." His dad said. "Over in Nyebrook. Awful, isn't it?"

"What do you mean, they 'lost' their town?" Will asked.

"Oh, you know honey." His mom said. "Like we're the supers for Maxville. They lost Nyebrook."

"You can loose you town?" Will asked, incredulously.

"Of course." His dad answered. "If you aren't doing a good job, you get kicked out."

"Really?" Will asked. "I didn't know that." He examined the paper. They looked like nice people. "Where do they go, then?"

"Oh, they just stay there." His mother answered. "They just aren't the supers for that town anymore."

"Then, what do they do?" Will asked.

"Their covers become their lives." She said, shrugging her shoulders, mouth grimaced.

"Awful, isn't it?" His dad said, shaking his head.

"Yeah." Will answered, nodding.

* * *

Abby walked quickly into the Paper Lantern. It was starting to get dark outside, looked like rain. She sat down at a table, smiling at the waitress, and looked around. She had beaten Layla here. She settled back against the red cushions and waited for her friend.

And waited. Time was ticking slowly by. It had been over a half an hour, at least, and Layla still wasn't there. Abby had called her twice, but she hadn't picked up. She looked outside. Maybe Layla had forgotten. But no, that wasn't like her. Just a little while longer, maybe she was just running late. Really late. So she waited, head propped on her hand, staring alternately out the window, where it had started to rain, and at her phone which she had set on the table, watching the clock slowly pass minute after minute without Layla showing up. Maybe she should just leave, Abby thought, fingering the water glass that she had been continually refreezing. But, she didn't want to ditch Layla. Besides, it wasn't as if she had any other plans.

"Need more wat – oh." A voice said from behind her. Abby turned around - and saw Warren standing there. He was in an apron with his hair tied back, holding a pitcher of water. Her mouth dropped open.

"Warren?" she asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here." He answered, staring at her. "What are you doing?"

"Eating." Abby answered immediately. Warren looked pointedly at the empty table. "Well, I'm going to eat." She amended, shifting in her seat. "I'm just waiting for Layla."

"Oh." Warren said, nodding.

"Yeah." Abby said, nodding along with him.

"You've kind of been waiting a while." Warren commented slowly.

"How do you know?" Abby demanded.

"I'm supposed to go to your table, but you still haven't ordered yet."

"Oh." Abby said. "Yeah. It's been about an hour now. I think she might have ditched me." She flattened her mouth out, making a face.

"Hm." Warren said, nodding. He just stood there, then turned his head to stare critically at Abby.

"What?" Abby asked.

"I'm thinking that this might be one of Layla's brilliant set up plans." He said frankly.

"What do you mean?" Abby asked suspiciously. She didn't like being set up. Not at all. Even if it was by her best friend who thought it was for her own good.

Warren sat down in the seat across from her, setting the pitcher down on the table. "Layla know I work here." He explained, looking right at her. "She makes plans to come here with you. She knows we're both going to be in the same place at the same time. Then she doesn't show up. So instead of you, Layla, and me, it's just you and me."

Abby shook her head. "I bet you're right." She said, grimacing.

"Yeah." Warren said nodding. "I am quite a lot." Abby raised an eyebrow.

"Don't go getting cocky now." Warren grinned, and they just sat there for a moment, staring at each other. Then Abby quickly looked away. "Sooo," she started, shifting in her chair. "Now what?"

"Now," Warren answered "You order your food before the waitress kicks you out."

"They aren't even allowed to do that." Abby said. "Are they?"

"Well, I could always do it for them." Warren said, glancing over at the kitchen. "So, I've got to get back to work. You want me to take back your order?"

"Um, sure." Abby said, quickly opening up the menu and skimming through it. "Uh . . . I'll take the . . . How Sung . . . hui . . . uh . . . that one." She finished, pointing at a spot on the menu. Warren raised an eyebrow.

"Very nice." He said.

"Just bring me my food." Abby said.

"As you wish." Warren replied, walking away.

* * *

Layla was working on her History of Supers paper, lying on her bead while eating an apple. Her phone was buzzing beside her, as it had been for about half an hour. She glanced at the screen. Abby again. She turned back to her paper, taking another bite out of the apple. This was for their own good . . .

* * *

Warren walked back to Abby's table, platter in hand. "You get promoted or something?" Abby joked. "Since when do busboys get to deliver the food?" Warren just grinned and set the plate down in front of her. Abby stared at it. "That." She stated flatly "Is not what I ordered."

"I took a few liberties with your order." Warren said, sitting down. "You see, through your oh so American accent, I wasn't sure if you said –"

"Is that octopus?" Abby asked, a disgusted look creeping over her face as she poked it with a fork. "This looks like it has tentacles."

"Do you not appreciate our cooking? Go on, eat." Warren asked. Abby glared at him, then leaned to stare out the window.

"Is that you car out there Warren?" she asked.

"Yeah." Warren answered warily.

"Hm. You know, it's raining pretty hard out there." She said, tapping her fingers against the window. "Funny how quickly rain can turn in to hail." She froze some condensation on the window, turning back her head and grinning slyly at him.

"Okay. Okay." Warren said, a look of alarm on his face. He quickly pulled the plate across the table over to him. "This is my dinner. Okay? Happy?" Abby sat back, smiling, as Warren got up and brought over another plate.

"This is better." Abby said, scooping up a forkful of noodles.

"Better?" Warren asked, picking up his own fork. "No no no. You don't understand. This, this is a delicacy."

"Yeah, well you can keep your delicacies. I don't want them." Abby said, taking a bite.

* * *

An hour or so later, Abby and Warren walked out of The Paper Lantern, laughing. It was still raining, but Abby looked up at the sky smiling. Warren kindled a flame in the palm of his hand, guiding them as they walked over to his car.

"So, I guess I'll see you later then." Abby said. Warren nodded. She turned around and started to walk away. But Warren didn't get into his car, he stood there, watching her. The rain was freezing into tiny snowflakes when it hit her. They were scattered in her hair, like a crown. Warren glanced down at his own arm, where the raindrops sizzled slightly, evaporating when they met his skin. He turned back to Abby. She was still walking. A moment later, she would be swallowed by the darkness.

"Hey." He called out. She turned around, a question on her face. "Uh, do you want a ride home?" He asked. Her question broke into a smile.

"Yeah." She answered, walking back towards him. "Yeah, actually. That would be really great. Thank you." Warren grinned.

"No problem."


	8. Chapter 8

"Layla." Warren said, slamming his stuff down on the table and sitting down across from her. "We need to talk."

"Oh?" Layla asked, looking up from her book. "Sure Warren. What's up?"

"I think you know." Warren said, looking at her steadily. Layla quickly looked away and started rummaging through her bag.

"I know-? Oh, I have no idea what you're talking about Warren!" Layla said, with a nervous laugh.

"Yes you do." Warren stated.

"Wha- no, no." Layla said, looking everywhere but at his face, which was still steadily staring at her.

"The paper lantern Friday night?" Warren prompted.

"Oh! Oh, that! Oh, you know what, I totally forgot! Oh my god, you know, I am so sorry, hey, I guess you must have seen Abby there then, and . . ." Layla slowly petered out as Warren just continued to stare at her. "Sorry?" Layla tried with a smile.

"Don't ever try to set me up again." Warren said. He got up and left, just like that, leaving Layla alone again with her book – and a smoke stain where Warren's hand had been on the table.

* * *

Layla sat in the bleachers during gym class, watching Coach Boomer and some other students below. She watched Will punching apart mock villains continually popping out at him, smiling. Although she disproved of violence, she knew it made Will happy to feel like he could do something. She turned to Warren, sitting with her now instead of all alone like he had used to, and saw him watching someone else. Layla turned to follow his gaze.

Abby. She was another one of them down on the gym floor, freezing whatever Coach Boomer decided to throw at her. Layla smiled. "She looks pretty." She said slyly to Warren.

"What?" Warren asked, jerking his head up. He glanced quickly between Layla and Abby. "No." He said, shaking his head and slouching back into position, going back to staring at Abby.

"Warren." Layla said. "Just admit it. You like her!" Warren sighed and closed his eyes, then turned to face Layla.

"So I like her, okay? So what?" Layla broke into a smile.

"I knew it! So tell her!" She exclaimed.

"No." Warren said, shaking his head and turning away.

"Why not?" Layla persisted. "That's the advice you gave me."

"Yeah, well, that was different." Warren said.

"How?" Layla challenged, offended.

"Well, Will was just clueless, and you just needed to get things started." Warren reasoned. "This is different . . ." Layla watched him for a few moments.

"Why don't you ask her anyway?" Layla asked. "Maybe she likes you too." Warren just shook his head.

"She doesn't." he said.

"How do you know?" Layla asked.

"Why are you so interested?" Warren asked.

"Uh – I – I don't know." Layla said, pulling back. "I just want to help you. Like you helped me. You're my friend." Warren just nodded.

"I think I do like her." Warren said, breaking the silence. "God, what is wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you!" Layla exclaimed. "Abby's really nice, and pretty, and funny, and,"

"No, no." Warren said, shaking his head. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just I've never . . . I've never liked someone like that before, you know? Huh, no, of course you don't, you've had a crush on Will since the first grade. But I was never like that. I've never wanted someone to like me before. Not before I started hanging out with you guys. And I'd never thought it'd be someone like Abby . . ."

"It may be a new for you." Layla said, putting a hand on his knee. "But it's a good thing. You've changed a lot in the past year. New things are happening."

"Yeah." Warren said, staring off down at the gym again. "Why is it with you I always end up having a conversation about feelings?" he asked. "I already got you a boyfriend last year, why don't you talk about this stuff with him instead of bothering me?"

"Because." Layla said, smiling. "I want to be sure that you have someone to talk about your feelings with too. I want to pay you back."

"Yeah. Sure." Warren said.

Layla looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Does that mean you take back what you said about not setting you up again?" She asked quickly.

"No." Warren answered evenly. Layla sighed, grimacing, and went back to watching Will.


	9. Chapter 9

"Nothing's happening." Magenta said, standing on the edge of the dance floor with all the others, her arms crossed. "And nothing's going to happen. It's just another stupid high school dance."

Warren looked like he agreed, but Will, staring at Layla, said "Hey, it's not that bad." Magenta just rolled her eyes. She was seriously beginning to question why she had so willingly agreed to come to Homecoming this year.

"Hey, you know, I bet I know why nothing's happened yet." Zach started, rubbing his hands together. "I bet you, that they, you know, all those evil villains who would want to attack our school so they could, like, take over the world and stuff? I bet,"

Will bowed and offered Layla his hand. She giggled, took it, and they disappeared onto the dance floor.

"They probably all heard about us from last year, about how we totally owned Royal Pain, how we were heroes, about how we totally bashed them, squashed them, how they all went to jail, got busted, because of us."

Warren and Abby walked away.

"So, they probably all got scared, they started thinking twice about attacking our school. We've probably got a reputation now."

Ethan walked off to the dance floor too, with a girl who looked suspiciously similar to a cat.

"They're all too scared to come here now! Yeea!" Magenta stared at him, arms crossed, as he looked around, still smiling.

"Yeah. Sure." Magenta said, staring moodily off at the dance floor. "That's exactly what happened."

* * *

Warren walked up the dark steps to Will's front door, shifting from foot to foot as he rang the doorbell. Mr. Stronghold, aka The Commander, answered the door. Warren balked for a second as Mr. Stronghold appraised him, seeming to consider leaving him out there.

"Warren Peace." He said slowly. Warren nodded apprehensively, leaning a little away from him. Mr. Stronghold flung the door open wide. "Come in, come in!" He cried. "The others are already here, get on in here!" Warren nodded, and quickly shuffled inside before the Commander changed his mind.

"Hello Warren, glad you can make it." Mrs. Stronghold said, walking by, hips swaying. "They're all in the kitchen."

"Okay Mrs. Stronghold. Thanks." Warren said, slipping towards the doorway.

"Come along dear." He heard Mrs. Stronghold say behind him. "Leave them alone now."

He walked through the doorway to see, indeed, everyone there. "Hey, Warren!" Will said, clapping him on the shoulder and leaving a floury handprint.

"Hey." Warren said slowly, shaking the flour off his shoulder. "What exactly are you guys doing?"

"We're making cookies!" Layla said brightly, a spoon in her hand.

"Whose idea was that?" Warren asked, his mouth quirking.

"What do you mean?" asked Ethan, who was carefully measuring out ingredients.

"Yeah, man!" said Zach, who already looked like he had had way too much sugar. "This is the greatest thing ever!"

"Uh huh." Warren said skeptically, surveying the room.

"No no no, not that much sugar Zach!" Layla called out, rushing over. Warren meandered over to Abby, who was standing on her toes, stretching in vain to reach a bag on the top shelf of the cabinet. He walked up behind her and easily grabbed it, handing it to her. She whipped around, and found herself facing Warren's chest.

"Thanks." She said, taking the bag.

"No problem." He said. They stood there, just looking at each other.

On the other side of the kitchen, Layla had managed to save the cookie dough, but in the process, quite a bit of sugar had been spilled on the floor. "Whoah, sorry Layla." Zach exclaimed, waving his arms. Layla's moth opened, Zach was still holding the open bag of sugar, but it was too late. His arm flung back, and a waterfall of sugar hit the back of Will's head. "Whoops." Zach said, quickly putting the bag down and backing away from it.

Layla couldn't help it, she started giggling. Will blinked at her through the sugar seeping down out of his hair. He looked at Layla. "What? You think this is funny?" Layla giggled more, nodded, and, scooping up some more from the counter, threw it at him. Will's eyes widened. "Oh, you so asked for it now." He said, grabbing a handful of flour and flinging it at her. Layla shrieked, running for cover, and so the war spread. A glob of flour hit Warren in the back of the head, drawing him and Abby out. Zach was eager to join, and Magenta crushed an egg into his hair. Flour and dough flew back and forth across the kitchen, and no one noticed the huge mess they were making as they were all laughing too hard.

* * *

He stood there, watching the kitchen window, through which he could see the boy squirting icing at the red-haired girl. He raised an eyebrow skeptically, turning to his companion.

"These are the ones we're supposed to be worried about?"

"They may not look like much now." She answered primly. "But remember, they're the ones who defeated Royal Pain. You think she was easy to bring down?"

"Of course not." He answered. "But look at them. They're kids. I talked to that Stronghold boy, remember, and he didn't exactly seem like the brightest bulb."

"They're smarter than they look." She answered.

The boy snorted quietly. "That's not much of an accomplishment."

She turned to him sharply. "We have to be careful. If we screw up, it's over. They're our biggest competition. We can't get cocky. Got it?"

"Sure thing." Sam muttered, returning to watching the window.


	10. Chapter 10

School went on as usual. Zach managed to nearly singe his eyebrows off in a slight explosion in Mad Science. Will made the mistake of challenging Abby to a snowball fight. And they all tried to struggle through the school work as best they could, for Warren was right, compared to this year, freshman year had been a cakewalk.

Today, they were standing out in the middle of town square, trying to figure out yet another school project. Warren and Abby had tagged along too.

"Sooo . . ." Will said, staring at the paper. "If we put the victim over there –"

"Um, dude, that's kind of high." Zach stuttered, looking up at the window.

"Well, but if it's too close to the ground, then there's no point in me flying." Will argued.

"Will's right." Ethan said. "And the more challenging we make it, the better our grade will be."

"Right." Will said, scribbling on a paper he had pressed against a wall. "Hey, Warren, on a scale of one to ten, how effective would you say our teamwork has been?"

"Oh, dang," Zach said "I have to do one of those evaluations too. Hey Warren –"

"Hey." Said Will, looking up and glancing around. "Where'd Layla go?" The others glanced around too.

"Yeah, and where's Magenta?" Zach asked.

"Over there." Warren pointed. "With Abby." The boys walked over to where the three of them were standing in a row, watching something. Or someone.

Will followed their gaze and saw Sam coming out of the mayor's office.

"Oh." Layla breathed.

"My." Abby said.

"God." Magenta finished. They stared, mouths slightly dropping, eyes glazed over. The boys looked quizzically from the girls, to Sam, then at each other.

"Yoo hoo." Warren said, waving a hand in front of Abby's face, earning him a punch and a glare, but her concentration was dropped.

"Uh, Layla?" Will said, poking her.

"Huh?" Layla said turning around, then jolted seeing Will. "Oh, Will! Hi!"

"Uh, yeah, um, Layla, uh,"

"Yeah?"

"That guy, that's Sam. Remember, the guy I told you about?"

"What?" Layla asked, her eyes wide. "That's Sam?" She turned back to look at him, but this time with a different expression.

"Sam?" Magenta said. "He's hot. Do you know him Will?"

"Uh, sort of." Will said, a bit uncomfortable with Magenta's first comment. "Well, actually, I dunno, something kind of weird happened when I met him. His eyes, like, rolled up into his head."

"Really?" Abby said. "I didn't know the mayor's office hired supers."

"What?" Will asked. "What do you mean?"

"The rolling-up-eyes thing. It's usually a sign of a super."

"There are signs?" Layla asked. "I've never heard of that before."

"You learn it next semester." Abby said.

"It's true." Ethan interjected. "Although rare, some supers do emit physical signs when they use their powers. Usually it's something very small, such as a change in eye color, and happens most frequently in supers with very strong powers, although that is not a definite definition."

Abby nodded. "And eyes rolling up into your head is usually a sign of a telepath."

"A telepath." Will repeated. "That's weird."

"Why?" Magenta asked. "He's a possible telepath who works for the mayor. I don't see anything too strange."

"It's just," Will tried to explain. "He's kind of creepy. I don't know." He tried to shrug it off. "So, um, why don't we start on that project, huh guys?"

"Yeah." Said Layla. "Come on, let's go."

They began setting up their project; which happened to be a rescue simulation. "Okay, so, after I walk down the dark alley," Zach said "Making it all, you know, not dark, then,"

"Then me and Ethan will sneak up as goop and guinea pig, we know, we know Zach." Magenta said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay guys, let's get started." Layla said.

"Yeah." Will agreed. "Hey, Warren, are you watching? Cause we need your signature on this so Ms. Elastic will believe we really did it."

"Why don't we just all go to the movies and I'll sign it anyway?" Warren suggested, walking over.

"What? You'd do that?" Will said.

"Why didn't you say so earlier!" Zach cried.

"Warren." Layla said in a disapproving voice. "We have to do this project, it's a big grade."

"And we won't learn anything by playing video games." Ethan added. "We all have to pass this class to graduate."

"Thought I'd give it a shot." Warren mumbled.

"Alright, can we just get this started already?" Magenta asked.

"Right, right." Will said. "So, um, if Abby and Warren, if you guys could just come over here . . ." They obeyed, albeit with arms crossed, standing in the middle of the alley. "Great, great." Will said. "Now, if Warren, you could just be the villain, and Abby be the victim, that would be great, really great." Will said, backing away.

"What?" Abby asked. "That's so sex –" she didn't get a chance to finish, as Warren picked her up and swung her over his shoulder.

"No problem." He told Will.

"Thanks guys! Really appreciate it!" He called over his shoulder, running to his position and wiping the sweat off his brow.

* * *

Magenta and Ethan crouched in the alley way, hidden behind a dumpster. "This stinks." Magenta said, wrinkling her nose.

"Come on." Ethan said. "We'd better get into our positions." He promptly melted into a puddle of goop.

"Might as well get it over with." Magenta said, shifting into a guinea pig. She watched from her corner, waiting for the signal.

* * *

Zach stood silently, his back to the door, breathing steadily, pumped and ready to go, just waiting for the call . . .

* * *

"This is stupid." Abby muttered, her arms crossed, staring down at the ground, which was really her only option at the moment.

"You're just mad because you have to be the victim." Warren said, shrugging his shoulder to bump her.

"Shut up." She muttered.

* * *

Layla stood just around the corner, waiting for the first signs of movement to play her part.

* * *

Will stood just beside a window, waiting for Warren and Abby to come out so he could jump into action. He saw a flash of movement from down on the street. He swung out up on the sill, and burst out of the window and flew down to ground level.

He crushed into someone's body, then caught a flash of blond hair. 'Wait . . .' he thought 'blond hair? That's not Warren!' He quickly jumped up and saw Sam lying on the ground before him. "Oh man." Will said, quickly helping the blond back to his feet, and attempting to brush him off. Unfortunately, he brushed a little too hard, and Sam ended up falling back down on the ground again. "I am so sorry." Will said, helping him up again. The others had come out by now too, and we loosely gathered around them, all with varied expressions of horror on their faces. Sam quickly backed away from Will, brushing himself off and eyes skittering from one of them to another.

"I swear, this isn't what you think, you've got it all wrong." Sam quickly spat out.

"Dude, I'm sorry!" Will said again. "It was totally and accident, we were just doing a project, and, um, you kind of got in the way."

"Oh." Sam said, still looking all around him, and backing around in circles.

"Are you okay?" Layla asked "We're really sorry." Sam just turned to look at her, wide eyed.

"Yeah, but you kind of just walked into our project." Magenta said sullenly, having transformed again into a human.

"Right . . . my mistake . . . I'll just be going now . . ." Sam said, slowly backing away. "Let you get back to your project." He finally turned around, and walked quickly out of the alleyway, continually looking back over his shoulder at them. Every time they were still all there, staring at him.

"I take it back Will." Magenta said. "He is certifiably creepy."

"Yeah." Zach instantly agreed. "He was pretty weird Will. He seems like the type whose eyes would roll up into his head."

"What was he doing here anyway?" Warren asked.

"Yes, that is curious." Ethan said. "Someone who works for the mayor usually wouldn't be walking through alleyways." There was a long pause as they all looked at each other.

"I say we follow him!" Zach declared. "Find out if he really is a psycho! Who knows, if he is, we'd be heroes!"

"You 're already a hero Zach." Layla gently reminded him.

"Oh, yeah." Zach said sheepishly. "But we'd be heroes again! Yeea!"

"That might actually be a good idea." Will said.

"We'd be able to find out more about him." Abby put in.

"Yeah." Magenta said. "See if he's a creep or not. And anyway. Sneaking around is kinda cool."

"Anything'd be better than this project." Warren said. They all turned to look at Layla. She looked back at them, helplessly.

"But," she started. "That's really not right, is it?" They all just continued to stare at her. She sighed. "Well, I guess it couldn't do too much harm, just to look."

"Yeah." Abby added. "We'd actually be helping. Good of the community, to investigate suspicious characters." And with that decided, they all slunk out of the alleyway after him, leaving their project forgotten and long behind.

* * *

Will creeped along the sides of the building, Layla right behind him, keeping Sam just within his sight. They had split up, so as to easier follow him and lower the chances of him loosing or finding them.

"It doesn't look like he's headed back to the Mayor's office." Layla said in a low voice.

"Yeah." Will agreed, "Fishy, isn't it?" He picked up his phone. "He's headed your way Warren."

* * *

"Alright." Warren said, closing his phone and turning towards Abby. "He's coming this way."

"No he's not." Abby said, pointing out of the alcove where they were crouched. "Look, he's turning into that alleyway."

"Damn," Warren said, taking his phone back out. "We don't get to have any fun, do we?"

* * *

"He's coming!" Zach said. Magenta and Ethan both turned, glaring at him with fingers to their lips. "Whoops, sorry." Zach whispered. "I forgot."

They peered out from around the corner, watching. Sure enough, Sam came walking down the street, looking cautiously around. He stopped in the middle of the street, still watching over his shoulder, and then – and then he wasn't. He just wasn't there at all. He's completely disappeared. They looked at each other, eyes wide.

"Where'd he go?" Zach whispered.

* * *

"I swear, he did!" Zach insisted. They were all gathered back in the town center. Ethan and Magenta stood behind him, nodding with arms crossed.

"Are you sure?" Layla asked.

"Yeah, we're pretty sure." Magenta said. "He freaking disappeared right in front of our eyes!"

The others all looked at each other. Warren sighed, sitting down on the edge of the fountain and put his head in his hands.

"Maybe he's a super?" Will put forth after a while.

"I don't know." Layla said with a sigh, sitting down with a sigh and leaning against Warren. Abby just shrugged her shoulders and leaned her head back to watch the clouds slowly gathering in the sky.

"That's rather unlikely, Will." Ethan said. "The mayors office would have to know about something like that, and it's unlikely that he would have neglected to tell you that there was a super working as an intern. In fact, it would most likely be very big news." Will only grunted in response, rubbing his temple.

"There is something up with that guy." Magenta said flatly.


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey Ron." Will said, automatically, getting on to the school bus the next morning with Layla. Then he stopped, turned around, and took a seat right up front. He had just remembered . . . Ron worked for the mayor now too. "Hey, Ron." Will said again. "You work for the mayor now."

Ron chuckled. "Yep. I must say I do."

"Do you think you could answer a question for me?" Will asked.

"Of course Will!" Ron said. "Anything! Ask away!"

"Uh, okay, cool." Will said. "Um, so do supers work in the government? Like, in, say, the mayor's office?"

"Hm, well I certainly don't know any." Ron answered. "Most supers are too busy, out saving the world, you know?" Ron chuckled again. "Don't have too much time to get involved in politics. But, I suppose, if they wanted to, there's nothing stopping them. Yes, yes, it's highly possible. Just as long as they were registered."

"Wait – registered?" Will asked.

"Well, yes." Ron said. "They'd have to know if the person they were hiring had super powers, now wouldn't they?"

"Yeah." Will said nodding. "I guess they would."

* * *

"And of course, you guys won save the citizen _again, _I mean honestly, if you weren't my boyfriend, it might have started to get boring to watch –" Layla prattled along as she walked down the hallway, hand in hand with Will.

He nodded along, but his attention had been caught by a door he hadn't been through in a while.

"Hey, Layla?" He interrupted. "You go ahead, alright? There's someone I want to talk to."

"Alright." Layla said, giving him a kiss on the cheek and disappearing around the corner.

Will turned around and knocked on the open door. "Mr. Boy?" He asked hesitantly, coming through the doorway.

"Yes- why Will! What a pleasant surprise!" Mr. Boy said, turning around.

"Uh, yeah, hi. Um, could I talk to you for a minute?" Will asked.

"Why, of course, of course." Mr. Boy said, gesturing around for Will to take a seat. "Anything for a Stronghold." Will obligingly sat down at a desk. "Speaking of," Mr. Boy continued. "Uh, how is you mother, uh, Josie, doing?"

"Oh, um, she's good." Will answered, nodding. "So, uh, I was just wondering, um, how do super's work with the government? Like, with the mayor and stuff?"

"Well, Will." Mr. Boy said. "I think your parents could probably answer that question. Your father has quite a bit of experience with the mayor."

"Well, yeah." Will said. "But, I thought I'd come to you first, since, you know, you're a teacher and all."

"Very true, very true." Mr. Boy said. "I am a teacher. So I would know the answer."

"Yeah." Will said, waiting. "So, um, how does it work?"

"Well," Mr. Boy started. "When a super graduates, from Sky High, and has had the proper experience, he, or she, of course, was assigned, until recently, a partner, either sidekick or hero, whichever they matched with." Will nodded along. "Of course, now that that system has been changed, they will be assigned with another student, one whose abilities would best compliment theirs."

"How do they decide that?" Will asked.

"Um, well, that is a good question Will." Mr. Boy said. "In fact, that has not exactly been decided yet. Well, anyway, continuing, that pair of supers is then assigned to a specific city, or general area. And that is then the area that they must protect, or else," Mr. Boy made a sort of 'pfffht'ing motion.

"What?" Will asked.

"Well, if the supers can't protect their town, they're kicked out." Mr. Boy said, shrugging his shoulders. "Very rare though, I must say. Generally the more powerful pairs are assigned to the higher risk cities, such as with your parents. Really a very smooth system."

"Cool." Will said, nodding. "Well, thanks a lot Mr. Boy." He got up and started heading towards the door.

"Anytime Will, anytime." Mr. Boy called after him. "Tell your mother I said hello!"

* * *

That weekend they all decided to meet up at the paper lantern. While Layla and Warren were perhaps the only ones who really enjoyed the food, they all enjoyed the company. Zach stuck chopsticks up his nose. Will and Layla were glad to just have finally gotten to the Paper Lantern together.

But eventually, dinner was over, Warren had to get back to work, and they all slowly filtered out.

"Hey." Warren said, walking back over to the table, seeing Abby still sitting there. "Looks like you're the last one."

"Yeah." Abby said, with a half-smile.

"I'm surprised." Warren said, sliding into the booth across from her. "Thought you'd try to escape from those freaks as soon as possible." Abby bit her lip, smiling and shaking her head.

"No. They aren't freaks. Is this the way you talk about all your friends?"

"I don't have any friends." Warren replied.

"With those comments, I'm not surprised."

"You seriously aren't sick of us?" Warren asked.

"No, of course not." Abby said. "I like you guys. I was never really close to any of my old friends. Not like I am to Layla, or Zach." Warren's face fell at the mention of Zach's name.

"Yep." Warren said, nodding.

"What about you?" Abby asked. "Who were your friends before Will and Layla and everyone else came along?"

Warren raised an eyebrow. "I didn't have any."

Abby frowned, narrowing her gaze. "Seriously?" She asked in a skeptical voice.

"Seriously." Warren answered. "I was a loner. I kind of scared everyone else away. Just those guys were too stupid to be scared." Abby sighed, shaking her head. "I was just Barren Battle's son to everyone." Warren said, with a shrug of his shoulders.

Abby nodded. "It's tough." She said simply. They sat there in silence for a moment or two. "I should get going." Abby said finally, standing up and pulling on her coat.

"Oh, yeah." Warren said, also standing up.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Abby said, holding something out to Warren. "We saved a fortune cookie for you. Layla forfeited hers."

Warren looked at it and smiled against his will, shaking his head. "Thanks." He said, looking up and giving Abby a real smile. She smiled back.

He broke open the cookie as she started towards the door, pulling out the fortune. He looked at it. Then read it again, shaking his head. Layla. 'To let true love to remain unspoken is the quickest route to a heavy heart'. That quote looked strangely familiar. Would that girl ever stop trying to play match-maker with him? But looking up at Abby, he wondered if maybe he should take his own advice.

"Hey, Abby." He called out. She turned around. "Wait up." He said, putting down his tray and walking over to the door.

They stood just outside in the parking lot, yet again. Warren shoved his hands in his back pockets, looking down at her. "The prom's coming up." He said. Abby nodded. "Do you want to go with me?" He asked, looking at her steadily. He barely contained a sigh of relief when she started smiling.

"Yeah." She answered. "Yes. That'd be great."

"Awesome." Warren answered, also starting to smile.

"Cool." Abby said, starting to walk again. She turned back around for a second, and waved. "Bye."

"Bye." Warren said. He stood there in the doorway, watching her walk away until she'd disappeared before turning around to go back on his shift, that smile still stuck on his face.


	12. Chapter 12

Will walked into the kitchen, planning on grabbing a small snack, well, maybe not so small, and then heading over to Zach's to play video games. But his plans took a hit when he walked into his dad, raiding the refrigerator.

"Will, m'boy." His dad said, straightening up. "I have a fantastic idea. How would you like to come down with me to the mayor's office?"

"Ah, well," Will started. "Actually,"

"I'm sure you'll have a blast! We're going to be talking about real estate." He said with a wink.

"Uh huh. Yeah dad, um,"

"Perfect! I'll be ready in five minutes! The mayor's really taken a liking to you. Who knows? You could be the next super of Maxville."

Will gave up, shrugging. "Sure dad."

Fifteen minutes later, Will was standing, watching, as the mayor and his dad talked on endlessly. He rocked back and forth on his feet, pretending to be interested as they reminisced on incident after incident.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Will saw Sam coming out of a doorway further down the hall. "Sam!" He called out, without thinking. The mayor and his dad both looked down at him. "Um, I'll, uh, just be a minute. Excuse me." Will stuttered, edging around them and running down the hall.

"Sam!" He called out again. Sam turned around, a scowl on his face. Will stumbled to a stop in front of him.

"Do I know you?" Sam asked.

"Uh, yeah." Will said. "I'm Will, uh, Will Stronghold. Remember? We met here before."

"Oh." Sam replied.

"So, uh, could I talk to you for a minute?" Will asked.

"You already have." Sam observed.

"Um, okay," Will said, shifting. He really didn't like this guy. "So, uh, I was just wondering, how long have you been an intern here?"

"Six months." Sam answered dully.

"Oh, cool." Will said nodding. Then he blurted out "Are you a super?" Sam froze and stared at him.

"Of course not." He said slowly. "What a preposterous idea." He continued staring at Will.

"Uh . . ." Will said, shifting under his unrelenting stare.

"I think you'd better be going." Sam said, before turning around and walking away down the hallway. Will just stood there and watched him, wondering what on earth that had meant.

* * *

"He said what?" She shrieked, her blonde curls bouncing as she jerked her head towards him.

"Well, yeah, but I don't think he really knows, I think he was just,"

"Oh, you think, don't think, do you? That's the understatement of the year!" She shouted at him, and Sam stumbled backwards a bit. "He knows alright. You idiot! You used your powers in front of him! I told you you were being too obvious!"

"But I didn't!" He protested. "I've been being careful!"

"Obviously not." She said scathingly "If he knew about it." She paced back and forth. Sam stood there, watching. She barely came up to his chin, but he felt much smaller than her. "This could ruin the entire plan." She stated.

"No, it won't." Sam assured her. "Everything's almost ready."

"If he tells the mayor –"

"He won't. He doesn't have enough evidence."

"He'd better not." She said firmly. "It's almost time." She sat there for a minute, and Sam waited patiently. "Well." She said finally "Now that he's suspicious, we'll have to work to keep him off our trail. We need to change the date, to a time when he's distracted."

"When?" Sam asked.

She walked over to the computer and pulled up the Sky High calendar. She smiled, pointing to the screen. "Prom night."

* * *

"Well isn't that just too bad." Will's dad said.

"Oh no, honey." Will's mom said. "Are the Meyer's having second thoughts on the Colonial again?"

"No, no, it's not them." His dad said. "Although, we need to call them soon, get something down on paper, are we free for an appointment next Thursday? Well, anyway, like I was saying, the mayor's sick."

"What?" Will asked, jerking his head up.

"Yes, yes. In pretty critical condition, so I hear. Don't worry though Will, he'll be fine. Just incapacitated for a few weeks."

"Incapacitated? But he was fine just yesterday!"

"Well, you never know what can happen." His dad said sagely.

"That's right." His mom said. "That's why you always have to be careful."

"Yeah, I know, but what about the city? For a few weeks? What if something happens?" Will protested.

His dad laughed. "Oh, don't you worry. We'll always be here to protect the city. And as for the mayor's office; Sam will be taking care of it. You remember young Mr. Beacon, don't you? The mayor's intern?"

"Sam? They're letting him take over?"

"Why, yes, why not?" Answered his dad.

"Will, honey, I'm sure the mayor will be okay. It's sweet how concerned you are, but there's really no need to worry." His mom said.

"You guys aren't concerned about this?" Will asked, bewildered.

His parents looked at each other. "No." "Nu uh." They answered. Will shook his head and sighed.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hey Will." Layla said, walking inside.

"Hey Layla." Will said. "You ready for the Paper Lantern?"

"Actually, I was thinking maybe we should do something different tonight." Layla said. "Since it's prom night, Warren won't be working there, so I thought maybe we should take a break a go somewhere else."

"Cool." Will answered. "Sounds good to me. Movie?"

"Awesome." Layla said, smiling. Will couldn't help but smile too, as he walked over and took her hand.

"It's been a while since we went on an actual date together." He said. Layla's face fell slightly as she looked towards the door.

"Well, actually," she started.

Before she could finish, Zach, Magenta, and Ethan burst through the door. "You ready yet man?" Zach asked. Layla shrugged her shoulders and smiled at Will, and he couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

They walked down the street, freshly bought smoothies in hand. Zach was in the middle of a story about how he was certain the lunch lady had been dipped in radioactive waste and was serving them the leftovers, when they passed in front of the mayor's office. It looked deserted. Will looked up at it as they passed by, when suddenly all of the lights went out. Every building in town went instantly dark. They looked around in confusion. What had happened? There was no reason for the power to go out; it was a clear night. It was eerily quiet too. What had happened to everyone? Will looked back at the mayor's office. It may have been dark everywhere else, but now a single light gleamed up in one of its windows. "Look." Will said, pointing it out.

"That's . . . kind of strange." Layla said in agreement.

"But, it's probably nothing, right?" Zach said, looking around and wringing his hands nervously.

"Yeah. The whole city suddenly loosing power is nothing." Magenta said sarcastically.

"Well, even if it is something," Ethan said "It's Will's parents' job to take care of it, and we can trust them to fix it. Right Will?"

"Yeah." Will said, still staring at the window. "But my parents left this morning and won't be back till the day after tomorrow."

"And the mayor's gone too." Layla said quietly.

They heard a crash, and they all jumped, eyes fixed on the window. There was no doubt where it had come from.

"We should go check it out." Will said, bounding up to the front door. The rest followed him.

"Um," Layla said. "Maybe we should take the back door. Since we're, you know, sneaking in and all."

"Oh. Yeah." Will said, and they all quietly tip toed around to a side door. Will tried the handle. No luck. He backed up from the door, preparing to bust through.

"Uh, Will?" Layla said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Sneaking in, remember?"

"Oh, right." Will said. He backed up, looking up the building's sides. "Maybe I could just fly up to the window." He suggested.

"And the rest of us will just wait down here." Magenta said.

"Oh. Yeah." Will said, creeping back up to the door.

"I have an idea." Ethan said. He promptly melted into a puddle, and slid underneath the door. Once on the other side, he shifted back, and unlocked the door. The others quickly filed in. Layla's mouth was open in shock.

"Ethan!" she whispered harshly. "We aren't supposed to use our powers outside of school!"

"I think it'll be okay." Magenta told her. "Saving the city comes before school rules." Layla shrugged, and gave a nod, biting her lip.

"Awesome." Zach whispered, and Will clapped Ethan, who was grinning proudly, on the shoulder.

"Where to now Will?" Magenta asked. "You're the only one who's been here before."

"Um," Will said, looking around. "Uh . . . I don't know . . . I don't think I've ever come in this way. It's so dark, I can't see anything!"

The instant the words had left his lips, Zach started to glow. He gave a smile and a shrug, stretching his arms out and cracking his knuckles. "May I?" he said to Magenta, walking past her.

"Go right ahead Glowboy." She replied.

With Zach in the lead, they slowly made their way through the building, trying to find their way to the room they had glimpsed through the window. Finally, they heard the murmuring of voices. They all looked at each other, their eyes lighting up, and headed in that direction. They quickly found a door halfway open spilling out light into the hallway.

"I know this room!" Will whispered. "It's the control room the mayor was showing us." They sneaked even faster, backs pressed up against the wall, painstakingly making their way to the doorway. Finally, they were close enough, and Will peaked his head around the frame for an instant, then quickly drew it back. "I think we're gonna need some help." He said, pulling out his phone. He had seen two people. One had been a short girl with wild curly blond hair. And the other had been Sam.

* * *

Warren and Abby walked through the doors of Sky High, revealing a gym decorated with streamers and balloons, a disco ball, and a crowd of dancing teenagers. They stood in the doorway for a second, trying to adjust to this strange new atmosphere, when Warren's phone took this opportunity to start buzzing.

"Hello?" he said, answering it. Abby stood there, surveying the rest of the room while she waited. A few seconds later he turned back to her. "It was Will." He said. "He needs some help."

"Like the time with the bees?" Abby asked, crinkling her nose.

"No, not like that." Warren said, a grin cracking across his face for a moment, but then quickly fading back into his serious expression. "No. He's in actual trouble this time. They all are. Real trouble. They need our help."

Abby nodded. "Well then." She said, turning around. "Let's go."

"You don't mind missing the dance?" Warren asked, although they were already heading down the front steps.

"Ah." Abby said, shrugging her shoulders. "Who needs another high school dance?"

* * *

"We need to find out what they're doing." Layla whispered.

"But how are we supposed to get close enough?" Ethan asked. "It was hard enough to get that one glimpse of Sam."

They all looked at each other for a few moments, everyone's faces blank. Then Magenta stood up straighter. "No problem. I've got this." She smoothly shifted into a guinea pig and scurried off towards the door, disappearing around the frame.

Magenta crept into the control room, quickly running to hide behind a filing cabinet. Sure enough, she saw Sam and the girl Will had described. She was in the middle of speaking " – the mayor and the Strongholds are out of the way, and the power is out. Time for the next step."

"But, you're gonna be the villain this time, right Suzy?"

Don't call me that!" Suzy snapped, turning in an instant from a calm professional into an irritated little girl. "And how many times do I have to tell you, we're both taking over this one!"

"Right, right, right." Said Sam. "I knew that."

"Of course you did." Suzy said primly, turning back to the monitor and brushing her hair back behind her ear. "This is the most important city to take over. Maxville. Home of the Strongholds. But not for long. We deserve this city. We grew up here. It's practically ours. It's only right that we should be its supers.

"Yeah." Sam added.

"Yes. Yeah." Suzy gave a nod of approval. "Now, for us to save the city; first the city has to be in need of saving. Time to spread a little terror." A smile spread across her face as her hands hovered over the dashboard.

Magenta decided that she had seen enough. These were definitely bad guys, and they needed to be stopped. Now. She scurried back towards the door, but she was so concentrated on moving as fast as she could, she didn't notice both of their heads swiveling towards her as she sped through the door frame.

Halfway down the hallway, Magenta shifted back into a human and ran the last several yards. "This is bad." She panted, rounding the corner and nearly running into the rest of them. "They want to take over the city from the mayor and your parents Will. And to do it, they're going to attack the town somehow, and"

A loud crack cut off Magenta, and suddenly Suzy was standing in front of them. "I thought I heard some eavesdroppers." She said.

"A teleporter." Layla breathed.

"Very observant." Suzy snapped. "Now, what, exactly, do you think you're doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Will asked.

"What, the rat hadn't finished telling you that yet?" she asked snidely.

"Hey!" Zach shouted. She turned to glare at him. "Uh," Zach muttered, shuffling his feet. "She's not a rat. She's a guinea pig." Suzy rolled her eyes and turned away.

"Who are you?" Magenta asked.

"What, don't you recognize me?" She asked sweetly. "I've always been told there's such a family resemblance." Suddenly, Sam flickered into sight next to her. He grinned at them.

"You're both teleporters?" Will asked in bewilderment.

"No, you idiot. I can turn invisible." Sam said.

"I knew it!" Zach shouted.

"Way to go Sam, just tell them our whole life story, why don't you?" Suzy said sarcastically.

"But, Suzy,"

"I told you not to call me that!" She screamed.

"Sorry." Sam muttered.

"You really are telepathic aren't you." Layla said quietly. "Abby was right, you guys are twins, and you can communicate with one another."

"Very good." Suzy said. "Aren't you a smart little girl. Now, if only Sam hadn't screwed up at the beginning and showed you that,"

"That was to save you! They were about to go in while you were in there!" Suzy sighed, closing her eyes, and ignored him.

"Anyway." She continued, "Then you may have never figured it out, and you wouldn't be here right now. Instead, you'd be happy and safe at your nice little school dance. But," she said with a sigh. "Since you are here." She crossed her arms. "It seems like you'll have to disappear."

"Seriously?" A voice came from behind them. They all whipped around. Warren was standing there with Abby. Will didn't think he'd ever been more glad to see them in his life. "We leave you guys alone for one night, and you've already made two villains into your enemies."

Suzy's face twisted into a snarl. "Great." She muttered. "There's more of you. Oh well." She said, her face brightening. "The more the merrier. Let the fun begin!" And with that, she disappeared with a snap, and Sam faded away into darkness.


	14. Chapter 14

The seven slowly backed up until they were in a circle, all facing different directions, looking around warily. It was hard to fight your villain when you had no idea where they were. Zach was still glowing like mad, but even so they couldn't see much more than a few feet away. Not that that would have helped much, as both of their opponents were remarkably good at disappearing. Warren had a fireball casually in the palm of each hand, his eyes roving the room, waiting for someone to throw them at.

"Ack!" Magenta chocked out, eyes wide, hands grasping at something around her neck. Something that didn't seem to be there.

"It's Sam!" Layla shouted.

"Hey!" Zach shouted, lunging for her, but Sam was dragging her down the hallway, her heels digging into the floor and hands still struggling at her throat.

Warren started to throw a fireball in their direction, but Abby put him out with a blast of ice. "Stop!" She said. "You'll burn Magenta too."

Zach was already running off down the hallway, shouting something after them. "Zach!" Will called. "You're taking the light . . ." He trailed off, realizing Zach either couldn't hear him or wasn't listening, possibly both. He looked back and forth quickly between the group standing here, and down the hallway. "Um," he said "I guess, uh, Warren, you stay here with them so you guys can all see, and uh, we'll go after them and help, and get Sam. And uh, you guys can try to get Suzy." And then he and Layla took off down the hallway, following the still faint glow of Zach.

Will's ears were full of their footsteps pounding as they raced down the hallway, trying desperately to catch up with Zach, who was still glowing brightly a ways in the distance. Although now Will was less worried about catching up with him than with loosing him. There were so many twists and turns, and the mayor's office seemed so different in the dark. And Will had never been in this part of the building before either . . .

They skidded to a stop, nearly running into Zach. He was standing in front of a door, desperately shaking the doorknob. "Magenta!" He shouted. "It's alright! We're coming!"

"Here, move over." Will said, and he busted through the door. He stumbled into the large, dark room, pieces of the door scattering to the floor before him. Zach and Layla quickly followed him.

As Zach slowly lit up the room, they could see Sam, standing perfectly visible, in the center of the room. But there was no sign of Magenta, at first. Instead, there was a black and purple guinea pig, its teeth clamped onto Sam's hand.

"Ow!" He screeched. "It won't let go!" He kept on shaking his hand back and forth as Will, Layla, and Zach stood there watching, varying levels of amusement on their faces. Finally, he succeeded in detaching her, flinging her halfway across the room. She fell to the ground with a thud, quickly transforming back into a human and jumping back up, glaring daggers at him. He wasn't paying any attention to her, or any of them, concentrating on nursing his hand.

While he was preoccupied, Layla put out her hand, growing a thicket of vines over the doorway. Will stepped forward towards Sam. "Look," he started, but before he could say another word, Sam's head snapped up and he disappeared from sight. Zach sighed, hanging his head back. "Not again." He moaned.

"He's in here somewhere. And he can't leave." Magenta pointed out. "He can't hide forever." They stood there, looking around warily, but there was no way to tell what Sam was doing. Will started walking around, walking his arms around in front of him.

"Will," Layla said gently. "That's probably not much use. He can still see you coming, and move out of the way."

"Oh yeah." Will said sheepishly, quickly lowering his arms. But as he did so, his hand went 'smack' against something, and Sam suddenly appeared right in front of him, an angry read blotch across his face.

"Grab 'im Will!" Zach shouted. Will jerked back into action, grabbing Sam's arm, but he instantly turned invisible again. Will fumbled around in the air in front of him, trying to keep a hold on Sam, or else they might never find him again. He failed in the space in front of him, and his fist managed to make contact with something. Suddenly, Sam was visible again, splayed out on the floor in front of him.

"Good hit Will." Magenta said, walking up behind him.

"It looks like he's out," Layla said, approaching cautiously. "But, just in case." She put out her hand, and vines sprouted up out of the floor, binding Sam.

"Nice." Will said. Layla grinned.

"Well, that wasn't too bad." Magenta observed, looking around. "Where's everybody else?"

"They're trying to get the other girl, Suzy." Will said.

Magenta raised an eyebrow. "How are they going to capture a teleporter?"

* * *

"Where are we going?" Ethan asked, walking behind Abby. Warren was leading the way, the fire lighting up his arms.

"To find Suzy." Warren replied.

"But . . . um, is that really the best idea?" Ethan asked. "And isn't she a teleporter? So, she could really be anywhere right now. We really have a very slim chance of finding her. And since she's a teleporter, how are we supposed to apprehend her? And –"

"Ethan." Warren cut him off. "Shut up."

"Okay." Ethan said obediently.

They continued creeping along the hallways, looking around for . . . well, they didn't really know what. But luckily, perhaps, they didn't have to look for much longer.

"You little brats!" A shrill voice echoed from behind them. There was a snap, and suddenly Suzy appeared right in front of them. "You thought you could hide form me?"

"Actually, we were trying to find you." Ethan put in. She turned to glare at him, and he promptly melted into a puddle of goo.

Suzy shrugged and looked back at Warren and Abby. "Now you're going to learn the hard way not to mess with me." She snarled, suddenly appearing right in front of Abby and grabbing her arm.

"Don't touch her." Warren growled, finally throwing one of the fireballs he had been nursing in his hand for so long. But Suzy instantly teleported to the opposite side of the room.

"Missed me!" She sang out as Warren whirled around, lighting the lengths of his arms up in flames. Abby too had formed balls of ice on her hands, and Ethan had stood back up.

"What do we do?" Ethan asked.

"If you have any suggestions, I'd be glad to take them." Warren shouted, flinging several more fireballs, all of which she avoided with ease.

"I've got an idea." Abby said. "Just keep her still for a minute."

"Keep the teleporter still?" Warren asked incredulously. "Oh, of course, no problem Princess." He stood there, helplessly, as Suzy popped up all around the room.

"What's the problem?" She taunted. "Don't the big bad high schoolers know what to do? Maybe if they hadn't let all those sidekicks in, you'dve had a chance, huh?" That comment sparked something in Warren's memory.

"Hey Ethan." He called out. "You remember Speed?" Ethan started smiling and nodded. Warren nodded once in confirmation. "Go." He ordered. Ethan quickly melted again, and Warren began throwing fireballs, nearly surrounding the room. Suzy teleported out of the way; right onto Ethan. She slipped, and while she was still wheeling for her balance, Abby hit her with a blast of ice, freezing her. She was trapped.

"Awesome." Warren said as they did a three-way high-five.

* * *

"Got her." Warren said as they walked into the room holding all the others.

"Really? Awesome. Where is she?" Will asked.

"We put her in the lobby. She's frozen in a block of ice." Warren explained, smiling proudly and putting his arm around Abby. She smiled a bit sheepishly and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"What?" Layla asked incredulously. "You froze her?"

"Well . . . yeah." Abby said. "She'll get unfrozen, eventually. And, anyway, you did practically the same thing to Sam." Layla looked back down at Sam and then quickly looked away.

"Well," She muttered, looking at the ground and shifting from foot to foot. "It's not like it's poison ivy or anything . . ."

"You froze Suzy?" Sam asked in astonishment. "You're in for it now. I thought you guys wanted to save the city!"

"That's what we're doing, by locking you guys up." Magenta answered.

"Well, with Suzy frozen, Maxville doesn't have a chance of surviving."

"Why not?" Layla asked warily.

"Because." Sam said smugly. "Our plan's already in action. And no one but Suzy would be able to stop it." They all looked at each other, alarmed.

"What, exactly, is your plan?" Will asked.

"The mayor's office is an arsenal." Sam explained proudly. "And we have it programmed to take on a life of its own. In a few minutes, it's going to start attacking the city. And there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"Why would you do something like that?" Layla asked, bewildered. "I thought you guys wanted to become Maxville's supers, to save the city!"

"Don't you get it?" Sam asked. "To save the city, first we have to destroy the city."

"We'll just see about that." Will said grimly, and then went tearing off, breaking through the walls to get to the control room.

Will just ran blindly until he finally spotted a familiar hallway. He rushed through the door and found the control room he had been in before, the first time he had visited the mayor's office. Also the first time he had met Sam.

From the looks of the room, Sam hadn't been making anything up. Lights were blinking widely, machines were beeping, and the screens were flashing all manner of charts and images. Will had no clue what any of it meant. He looked around, hoping desperately for a big red cancel button to press. As luck would have, none was to be found. Will breathed through his teeth. He had no idea how much time he had.

He squinched his eyes shut. This probably wasn't the best idea, but it was the only one he had. He picked up the filing cabinet standing on the other side of the room, and smashed it into all of the machinery. It made a high pitched whirring noise and the lights flashed even faster and brighter, for a few seconds Will was worried he had made it worse, but the suddenly everything faded and went black. Will let out a sigh of relief. It didn't seem like this building was going anywhere.


	15. Chapter 15

Will made his way back through the mayor's office. He reached the entryway, and was surprised to find Sam, trussed up in vines, next to Suzy, frozen in a block of ice, next to – Ron?

"Ron?" Will asked, a smile breaking across his face.

"Yep." Ron answered, rocking back on his heels, a satisfied smile on his face.

"But – how –what are you doing here?" Will asked.

"Well, your friends over there gave me a call, said you needed some help. And I will always be here to help you, Will Stronghold." Ron said sincerely.

"Sounded like this could turn into a robot situation." Warren said, walking over with the others. "And we all know that's Ron's specialty."

"Oh, well." Ron said, chuckling.

"The authorities are on their way too Will." Layla said, slipping her arm around him. "And your parents."

"Yeah." Zach said. "They're gonna come get rid of these clowns, now that we've taken care of them."

* * *

Warren and Abby leaned against Warren's car, watching the scene unfold around them. Their part here had already been done.

"Well." Warren said. "Some prom, wasn't it?" Abby nodded.

"Definitely a prom to remember." She said.

"Yeah. Not every prom you get to spend running around in the mayor's office chasing a psychopath teleporter and her twin."

"True." Abby said. "But, it's also not every prom Warren Peace asked you to go with him."

Warren turned to look at her, surprise written in his eyes and a smile creeping across his face. He stared at her profile for a minute. She wasn't looking at him, instead staring at the ground a little to her right, fiddling with her hair.

"Yeah." Warren said, straightening up and pulling Abby up with him. "Let's make this a prom to remember for another reason."

"And what might that be?" Abby asked, finally looking up at his eyes. In response, Warren leaned down and kissed her. Abby's eyes widened, but she quickly responded in like.

It may not have been the classic prom kiss, swaying on the dance floor, far from it. And while kissing in front of the mayor's office, swarming with police officers, may not be romantic, as far as they were concerned, it was perfect.

* * *

"Will? Will!" Will's mom shouted, rushing over to him. "Are you okay sweetie?" She asked, brushing him off and straightening his hair. "We turned around as soon as we got the call."

"And Sam seemed like such a nice boy." His dad said, shaking his head.

"We're so proud of you sweetie." His mom said, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks mom." Will said stiffly.

"It's a good thing you and your friends were here Will." His dad said with a wink. "Between the three of us, Maxville will always be safe and sound." He patted Will on the shoulder. "Good work son."

"Thanks." Will said, waving as they hurried off to go talk with the mayor, who had stumbled his way down to town center.

Sam and Suzy were being taken away now too. They had been un-frozen and detangled, but now the problem seemed to be less of keeping them from getting away, than stopping them from attacking each other.

"You idiot!" Sam shouted. " 'They'll all be at prom.' They're sophomores, stupid, they don't go to prom!"

"Well, it's not like you ever had any ideas." Suzy snapped. "You couldn't do anything without me telling you to!"

They were still going at it as they were loaded into police cars and taken away, sirens screaming.

"You did do a great job Will." Layla said, walking up behind him and slipping her hand in his.

"Yeah." Will said. "You did too. We would have never got Sam without you."

"Well," Layla said shrugging. "I guess I know a trick or two."

"Yeah." Will said, staring at her.

"What?" Layla asked.

"Nothing." Will said, shrugging. "It's just, you're beautiful." Layla blushed and looked down. "And I'm glad you didn't get hurt in there. And," he continued. "I'm thinking that we still haven't gotten to go on a date."

"The plight of being a teenage superhero." Layla said, grinning.

"I don't know if I can take it." Will said.

"I think you're doing just fine." Layla said, leaning up and kissing him.

* * *

"So, I guess it all turned out pretty good in the end. Sam and Suzy aren't going to be even getting near a city anytime soon. Mom and Dad get to keep theirs, and so does the mayor. Layla achieved her goal of getting Warren and Abby together, and Zach got his, of one-upping last year's Homecoming. And as for me, I'm happy just to have gotten through the year intact, still with all my friends, my girlfriend, and even managing to pass all of my classes. And hey, I even got to kick so evil butt along the way. Sophomore year sure wasn't a cakewalk, but it was one fun ride."


End file.
